Furnace



Sept, 5, 1933. K. M SIMPSON FURNACE Filed June 29, 1931 3 Sheets-Sheet l Sept 5, 11933 K. M. SIMPSON FURNACE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed June 29, 1931 gwuentoz 15211118115141 52711 12501;

Patented Sept. 5, 1933 FURNACE Kenneth M. Simpson, New York, N. in, assignor to International Chromium Process Corporation, New York, N. 122, a corporation of Delaware Application .llune 29, 1931. Serial No. %,775

3 Claims.

My invention relates to furnaces and more particularly has reference to improved fuel and air supply means therefor.

In my prior application, Serial No. 517,945, filed February 24, 1931, (now Patent No. 1,812,563) of which the present application is a continuation in part, I have disclosed and claimed a heating process according to which the material under treatment is efficiently and rapidly heated to the desired temperature by the impingement thereon of shortintense flame moving under considerable velocity. In the preferred operation of the process referred to the material to be heated, such as a charge for a metallurgical furnace; is placed upon the hearth of a furnace and intense flame, generated adjacent the roof of the furnace, is forcibly projected upon the charge over substantially the entire area thereof. With a hearth of substantial size, a plurality of flames is directed downwardly onto the major portion of the surface of the charge from burners disposed at spaced points in the roof of the furnace.

It is an object of the present invention to-provide an improved apparatus for carrying out the process of my prior application above referred to.

A further object of my invention resides in the provision, in a furnace having a plurality of burners, of improved means for supplying air to the several burners.

A more specific object of my invention is to provide common air supply means for a plurality of burners in a furnace, the air supply to each burner from.-th'e, common means being independently controllable.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a furnace with animprbved burner structure which is readily adjustable to vary the air supply thereto.

Other objects and advantages of my invention will appear from the more detailed description thereof taken in connection with the accompanying drawings wherein;

Figure 1-is' a plan view of my nace'structure;

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 22 of Figure 1;

Figure 3 is an elevation of the adjustable burn improved furer support and-housing;

Figure 4 is a sectional view of the burner taken on the line H of Figure 3; and

Figure 5 is a sectional view on the line 55 of Figure 4. v

Referring more particularly to the drawings,

I have indicated generally at a top fired open hearth furnace similar to that disclosed in my prior application above referred to. The hearth 11 of the furnace is adapted to retain the charge to be heated which is impinged upon by intense flame over the major portion of the surface thereof in accordance with the process described and claimed in my prior application. Burner openings 12 are provided in the roof 13 of the furnace, these burner openings being disposed directly above the hearth and over an area substantially co-extensive with the hearth so that practically the entire surface of the charge to be heated may be impinged upon by a blanket of flame.

Each of the openings or apertures 12 in the roof of the furnace is provided with a burner housing licontaining a burner 15, more fully described hereinafter, which 'is adjustable vertically with respect to walls 16 of openings 12.

Above the furnace is disposed a common air manifold 17 for all the burners, the manifold communicating with the housings 14 on one side of the furnace through ducts 18 and with the housings 14 on the other side of the furnace through ducts 19. As best shown in Figure 1, each burner housing 14 connects with manifold 17 through an independent duct. Oil or gas is supplied to each burner from the fuel manifolds 20 and connections 21 leading to each burner. Each connection 21 is provided with a separate valve 22 so that the fuel supply to the burners may be independently controlled and regulated.

The opposite ends of the furnace communicate through valves 23 and 24 with regenerators 25 and 26, respectively. Regenerator 25 communicates with one end of air manifold 17 through flue or conduit 27 and valve 28 while regenerator 26 communicates with the other end of manifold 17 through flue or conduit 29 and valve 30. The valve arrangement is such that the checker brick in one regenerator is being heated by waste combustion gases discharging from one end of the furnace while the hot checker brick in the other regenerator is being utilized to preheat air being supplied to manifold 17. To this end. valves 23 .and 30 will be open while valves 24 and 28 are closed and vice versa. This combination of furnace and regenerator and valve arrangement constitutes the claimed subject matter of my companion application, Serial No. 547,774, filed on even date herewith and therefore comprises no part of the present invention. For the purposes of this invention it will be understood that theair for manifold17 may be preheated in arm suitable manner for example, by recuperation instead of regeneration.

Casing 31 is surrounded by cooling jacket 35 which is partitioned by internal wall 36. Cool-,

ing water is supplied to the jacket from inlet 37 and discharges through outlet 38. An enlarged head'or tip 39 of refractory material at the lower end forms an annular air passageway 40 withthe openings 12 and the refractory material prefer ably surrounds cooling jacket 35 as shown at 41.

The entire burner assembly is vertically movable within housing 14 through packing gland 42. Vertical adjustment of the burner assembly is effected by means of lever 43 attached to arm 44 which is pivoted at 45 and secured to the burner structure. The burner is preferably counterweighted as at 46 for ease of adjustment. It will be seen that vertical adjustment of the burner assembly varies the size of annular passageway 40 thus varying the quantity of air supplied from ducts 18 and 19 to the burners. Each burner is independently adjustable so that the. amount of air supplied thereto from common air manifold 17 may be independently regulated.

To take care of expansion and contraction of the different parts of the furnace, close to each end of each air inlet duct from the manifold to a burner, is placed a flexible joint comprising a spherical face 47 and seat 48, free to move in any direction. These joints are held together by tie rods 49 which are spring loaded as at 50 so parts of my improved furnace structure will be clear from the foregoing description. The 'material on the hearth, such as a metallurgical charge, is impinged upon by relatively short intense flame over substantially its entiresurface as in my prior process application referred to, the flames being generated directly above the charge adjacent the roof of the furnace, the burners being readily under the independent control of the operator both as-to fuel and air, and the several burners receiving their air supply from a commonipreheated source.

What I claim is:

1.- In a furnace, the combination with a hearth, of a roof disposed above the hearth, a plurality of openings in said roof spaced over an area corresponding to the major portion of the hearth. burners mounted adjacent said openings and adapted to forcibly project flame downwardly onto the hearth at substantial velocity, means for supplying air to said'openings, and means for varying the distance between the burners and the walls of said openings to regulate the air supply.

2. In a furnace, the combination with a hearth, of a roof disposed above the hearth, a plurality of openings in said roof spaced over an area corresponding to the major portion of the hearth. a housing surrounding each of said openings and disposed on the roof outside the furnace, burners mounted in the housings adapted to project flame through the openings downwardly onto the hearth, a common-air supply manifold for a plurality of the burners, and connections leading from said manifold to a plurality of said housings.

3. The combination as defined by claim 2 further characterized in the provision of means for varying the position of the burners with respect to the walls of said openings to regulate the air supply from the manifold to the burners.

KENNE'IH M. SIMPSON. 

